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8/26/08

More Proof They Don't Know What They're Doing

Last year I was evaluated. My students' state scores were not taken into account, but why would they be? In a teacher evaluation, the teacher, as well as the principal, set vapid, purely lip-service-to-the-man "goals" for the teacher, because as we all know, teachers need improving and the best way to do that is to point out what they don't do well.

Anyhoo, one of the goals was to have the second grade classes work toward a system where the teacher that felt most comfortable with, and was most successful at, a certain subject would teach that subject to the 3 second grade classes. For background, because my students did well on math assessments, and the principal was impressed with a math lesson she witnessed in my class, she wanted to get me to as many kids as she could, and this was a way to do that. I had mentioned it as a possibility in a conference or something during a brainstorm, and never thought about it again. She did, and suggested it as a goal. There are problems with the idea from the gitgo:

1. The other teachers have to want to teach science and literacy. What if they don't? Do I fail in my goal?

2. Parents might not want the lack of continuity for their children.

3. Kids may not like the lack of continuity.

4. I may get sick of teaching math all day every day (you upper school teachers have it rough!)

And who knows what other issues could come up?

So, that is the background and setup for what I realized after the meeting, tonight, when I got home, regarding my post below, about today's meeting, before I wrote it:

If we are to align our instructional blocks (literacy at 10am, math at 1pm, etc) so all second grade teachers teach the same thing at the same time, my goal (above) would be impossible. Not only would it be impossible, it seems to be antithetical to the pedagogy revealed by the new alignment of instructional blocks. Which pedagogy, or curricular delivery system, is best? Clearly the principal has no fucking idea.

I always blow off the goals, so my forgetting about it makes sense. But for the principal to espouse one way to deliver curriculum to kids as a worthy goal, then to tell us we are to do this aligning thing--which is the complete opposite--not only smacks of stupidity, but a bifurcated and incompatible-with-itself pedagogical view(s?). She is not compartmentalizing. She is confused. Sunni? Shia?